Saturday, November 19, 2016

This seems like a no brainier, but it's been snowing a lot in Wyoming and the accumulation has been something else.

We stopped at a truck stop and the parking lot had a lot of snow. I was wearing my athletic shoes. And they got soaked. The bottom of my jeans were wet too!

I changed out my shoes and socks when I got back to the truck but the time in between was misery. Thankfully, I have 3 pair so I could change it up.

My steel toed boots where trapped under the bunk, but have since been freed. It's a lot of learning when you first get started.

I can truly say, truck driving school teaches you how to pass the test. The rest is learned on a case by case basis. There are so many things I learned since and I hope to blog about them all at one point. But this is pretty timely.

Keep extra shoes on your truck and have them handy. Waterproof anything you can because wet feet sucks pretty bad.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

There are so many questions we are working through as we embark upon our next great adventure!

What kind of CDL do I need? Where should I go to school? How much money am I going to really make? What is a good company to work for? Do I want to be in a truck with my spouse all the time?

After many weeks of research, we have decided to private pay for our school. We can sum this decision up in one word. #Options

Guaranteed Job vs. Marketable CDL with options

When you attend a company sponsored school, you are often stuck in a contract paying you very little per mile. The company is happy to write off your CDL school tuition after a predetermined and often lengthy time. Leaving one of these contracts can also prove tricky and your license can be put into jeopardy if you do not pay off your school or fulfill your agreed to contracted time.

The company sponsored schools run a great game. They hire recruiters that only have three things to tell you...1)This is the company for you 2)This is the standard industry pay and 3)Earn money while you learn. If you ask them a specific company question, they are quick to direct you to a company website that is more propaganda.

Paying for your own school gives you options. With an unencumbered CDL, you can work ANYWHERE you want to! Most companies want you to have some experience but are willing to take a chance on a new driver from a reputable school. So take your time to pick the best school for you.

Reputable schools spend time developing relationships with local companies willing to hire new CDL truckers. A direct referral to a local company can earn you much more per mile which adds up quickly running 4500-6000 miles per week with your partner.

"I would say that the leaving was coming for a long time... Maybe. I look back now and see that there were so many times I should have left but I thought about my responsibilities and I found myself staying because cancer is expensive and so is college," he said.

Wow...I felt like crying. For years, I watched my husband take on more and more responsibility with minimal compensation and much complaint. Not his complaining but other people. The people. The ones that can make or break his career sitting back watching while he worked his @ss off and they benefited from ALL of his hard work. I would say they were the problem, but the truth is we were conditioned to work hard. To exchange time for money.... Then, we had a mindset shift and set ourselves free.

In order to really appreciate this blog, you have to agree with this one thing... To your company you are a person sitting in a place doing a job and when you go, you will be replaced with another person doing that job and the company will go on. But to your family you are everything. EVERYTHING!

So to exchange time at work instead of building meaningful relationships with your family and memories with your kids is crazy.

Our first Thanksgiving in Seattle was attended by my brother who is living in his passion. His family was enjoying the week spending time enjoying the local sites. Thankfully the team was playing out of town so my husband was able to join us. One day we went down to the stadium and the kids got a tour and stood on the field.

For my nephews, it was surreal to stand where national champions played. These players followed their passion to the apex. After the photos, my brother asked my kid what she wanted to do in college. She was pretty vague which shocked him because she was a senior at the time. Then he gave her the same look my dad give me a hundred times.

Later that night, my brother was talking to the kids.... He was giving my kid a hard time about not knowing what she wanted to study in school. I intervened with, "It's not that she doesn't know... It's that she is tired of defending her choices. Because she is a top academic student, society expects her to go into a STEM field or something like that but her passion is...." This opened up a real discussion about following your passion and to never be afraid of what you want. To never be silenced about your passion because the people don't live your dreams you do.

To set yourself free, you have to know what your passion is... For a long time, I thought my passion was teaching. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE TEACHING. I really did until I helped a friend get out of a jam. She really needed a technical writer to help with her business. "Just a few articles," she said. But, I was hooked. I enjoy talking to people taking their story and making it come alive. #Writing is my passion. Absolutely, without question.

My husband has always wanted to be a trucker. I am not sure why, but it has been something he asked about since the Phoenix days. We did copious amounts of research, then we pulled the trigger. I can hear you now, "How does that get you to #YourTruckingLife?" This blog. REAL. Relevant. Unfiltered. Trucker Advice. Here... This blog is how I get there....

The second my husband, the father of my children and best friend, made his decision to leave his corporate operations manager job, I was there cheering him on. His biggest cheerleader for years was supporting him as he made one of the biggest steps in faith of our 21 years of marriage. Was I scared? Yes, I was scared...terrified. With a large mortgage, a child in college, and a house full of half paid materialistic BS, I said #YesPlease. And I don't regret a minute of what happened since.